eat lots of Meat and Fat Lots of Veggies - some nuts- little fruit- no grains(corn, soy, wheat)
I track my carbs and keep them around 90g a day
My BS stays between 80-110 all day with a bolus of only 0.75units an hour (when I eat grains I was at 2.25units an hour) If I miss a meal I stay right where i should be-
Impressive, but you're telling us what many T1s have already discovered (and what many dieticians disagree with). The last time I had to meet with a dietician (in order to get a new authorization for my pump....absurd given my experience with T1), I got into a heated debate with her about exactly how many carbs I should be eating. Her "professional" opinion was that, given my intensive level of activity, I should be eating upwards of 250g carbs/day. Yes, that was seriously her recommendation! I laughed. If I ate that many carbs per day, my BG would be all over the freaking place and I'd be taking a ton of insulin to cover not only the meals, but also the post-meal spikes. I would constantly be going high and low and would likely gain a few pounds from all the yo-yoing.
It sounds like what you're experiencing is the benefits of limiting the carbs. Your basal rate dropped because not only did you lose weight, but you probably also eliminated any insulin resistance you were experiencing in the process. The exercise also helps diminish insulin resistance.
Years and years ago, many of us T1s followed restrictive, low-carbohydrate diets (exchange style), in large part because the insulins were not as good/effective. Meals and snacks had to be eaten with great regularity, regardless if you were hungry or not. When things switched over to carb counting (in the 90s?), there was this sudden switch in telling T1s that they could eat whatever they wanted!
Here's what I have discovered - my pancreas is broke so, no, I can't really just eat whatever I want and still feel good. The pump and carb counting DOES enable me more flexibility in what I eat, and I LOVE that. I don't have to eat around my insulin like we did in the old days and I can even have small treats on the rare occasion that I'm really craving it. BUT, can I eat like a "normal" American? No. I can't eat pizza or loads of carbs or sweets on a regular basis. Doing this would send my BGs into a tizzy. Quite frankly, I like the discipline that I've developed over the years. I don't think anyone, diabetic or not, needs to be eating a ton of carbs. It's just not healthy for anyone IMO.
Congrats! I've been doing basically the same thing (Paleo instead of Primal and no CrossFit, just lifting on my own). I've lost 30 since Dec 11. Woo! Keep it up!
I read with interest the link to marksdailyapple blog. He actually is measuring his blood ketones using a fingerstick meter. In this way he is able to see his ketone level and corresponding rate of weight loss. I’m picking up some ketone strips at the pharmacy today and I want to do the same observation.
I consume about 60 grams of carbohydrate per day. I’ve lost 13 pounds in the last two months while I’ve never felt hungry. My BGs are much easier to control and my total daily insulin dropped by half. I’ve been a T1 for 28 years and wish I had discovered this way of eating sooner. Good luck with your new diet!
Yes I too wish I had not been trained with eat what you want and just give more insulin attitude- as long as your BS are good don’t worry about high amounts of ketones - **HOWEVER** if your BS is high AND you have high ketones talk to your doctor fast- this is not the kind of wt. loss you want (you may know this but if someone reading this does not... don’t want to send them down a path of destruction)
I agree all people so be doing less carbs - it’s funny ever since the Gov. has pushed their 11 grains a day at the bottom of the pyramid America has gotten obese and T2 - scary maybe daddy Gov. does not know best - maybe it’s time to go against conventional wisdom - I have a friend who is a dilatation and a T1 and a 3rd party was telling her my success without grains and she freaked out saying "I NEED GRAINS"
May your success be impetus for all others to look at their diets and work with small numbers when it comes to carbs. A route to success. Truly like your post.
I don't know what most people do, but I just eat glucose tabs. I don't count them toward my daily totals. I only count what I have to take insulin to cover.
After starting this I developed a lot of lows because my basal rates were suddenly too high, so I was pretty aggressive about lowering them to prevent the lows.
Of course, less insulin means easier weight loss so its a win-win :)
Glen - I use glucose tabs and juice. What's amazing, though, is since using a lowered carb diet, I now measure my low BG episodes in incidents per week instead on incidents per day! I've cut my excursions below 70 to 1-2 per week instead of 3-4 per day.
As far as exercise goes, I will lower my basal by 40% about 1 hour before any exercise that will last longer than 1 hour. If I forget, I just eat about 20 grams of carb about 15-20 minutes before I start exercising and do not cover it with insulin. This generally works for me, *your mileage may vary*.
Only glucose tabs. If you eat actual food you will get carbs (likely too many) and unnecessary calories. If you have a low all you really need is a couple of glucose tabs and you will come up (unless you are WAY overdosed on insulin, which you won't be if you are not eating lots of carbs since you would have no reason to bolus more than 1-2 units at any time). This way you keep carbs low and don't over eat unnecesary "snack food".
for me with lowered carb levels i shrink my basal to .75 sometimes .5 - then i carry a powerbar gel pack when i run more than 4-5 miles - but eating a high fat diet i have trained my body to use fat instead of carbs - over the 4th i ran 16mile and drank some gatorade and took a gel and went too high (188 when done) i was going a lil slower than normal (9:30 pace rather than 8 or 8:30 pace) so i never went into the glycogen burn zone- Dr. Peter Attia states it this way "I can now rely on much more fat, rather than glycogen, during prolonged exertion. This frees me up from needing to be constantly eating on long swims and bike rides." http://eatingacademy.com - I am still learning how to not over exert and burn glycogen so sometimes I fail and use the gel i have with me then get home and eat some good fat with some prot and some fruit carbs (berries)- hope this helps everybody is a bit different and i am sure next yr i will be doing things just a lil different because i am always learning
I got into a heated debate with her about exactly how many carbs I should be eating. Her "professional" opinion was that, given my intensive level of activity, I should be eating upwards of 250g carbs/day.
THANK YOU for saying this! I recently saw a dietitian who said I wasn't eating enough carb (about 70-120 g a day--not exactly Atkins!) and that the amount of carb I ate varied too much. She suggested a firm rule of 40 carbs at breakfast and lunch and 60 at dinner. That pissed me off. I told her it was too many carbs for me, and left it at that.
Dietitians simply do not understand what carbohydrate does to us and how much easier it is to control your blood glucose when you cut down on the amount of carb you consume.
I support you :) Was easily a 250+ carbs a day because the nutritionists said that was normal. I'm a tad overweight for my height (186/5'11") but nothing major.
Since I've cut back on my grains and such (not completely, not ready or sure if I want to) but my numbers are SO much better and I've lost about 5 pounds in a little over a week.
Around 150 carbs a day now. Working on getting that down lower.
good job on 150 and looking to go lower! thats awesome your body will thank you with better and better BS numbers- I used to swing crazy it would be nothing for me to be 360 then the next hour 60 then in 2 hours back to 300 - now i am rock solid 80-120 (normally 100 all the time) - i read your blog spot on your page- are you still freakin on going low? cut your basal and cut your carbs and that should help level it out- super proud of you for testing the waters of low carb
